The 2020 MotoGP calendar has a couple of races rescheduled and more Grand Prix events could be postponed due to the current travel restrictions. Rumour has it that Dorna Sports is considering to hold races behind closed doors according to Asphalt and Rubber. The news comes from a leaked email with info regarding some requests sent to the teams to provide a list of the minimum required staff members needed to run a race.
At the moment races worldwide are put on hold and Dorna Sports is looking at all options to find a solution for the 2020 MotoGP season to begin.
The email refers to all MotoGP teams and was sent by Mike Trimby, IRTA CEO.
“Clearly, we are exploring all options but everyone depends on what restrictions are removed on travel and mass gatherings. And such restrictions will vary from country to country,” said Trimby.
“The purpose of the survey sent to teams was to establish the minimum numbers of people that we would need to safely run an event behind closed doors,” he added.
“Having that information would enable us to move quickly to provide genuine information to promoters or governments if an opportunity was to arise,” Trimby concluded.
Taking into count the maximum number of team staff for all three MotoGP classes is around 1,500 people, thus making a possible closed-door racing season quite difficult. Furthermore, travel restrictions make the situation worse as team personnel, technicians and riders have to travel from a lot of countries such as Spain, Andorra, Italy, Japan, France, Austria, Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom where most teams, manufacturers, tire suppliers, suspension makers, and IRTA themselves are based. The riders alone come from 19 different nations.
Adding accommodation and health measures, the possibility to organize closed doors racing becomes more difficult than it seems. A lot of work is required with the Government of each nation to prevent any health issues that may appear and also Dorna needs to find out from the circuits staff when they can hold races throughout the coming months.
Dorna continues to find other options for current MotoGP season with the help of IRTA, the FIM and the MSMA. For now, we’ll have to wait and see what is possible and when racing begins.
You can see below the email sent by IRTA to all the MotoGP teams:
Dear All,
I hope that you, your staff and your families are keeping well during these difficult times.
You will have seen that, unfortunately, Dorna have already had to announce the postponement of several events and, with some, it has not been possible to confirm a new date for the events.
Dorna are working hard to secure new dates but are constrained by not being able to forecast when governments will reduce restrictions on travel or mass gatherings of people. Accordingly, one option being investigated by Dorna is the possibility of holding some events “behind closed doors”. This means no spectators and also no team guests, including sponsors with permanent passes.
To get government approval for such events it would be necessary to indicate to governments the number of people required to put on an event and, most likely, their nationalities and from which country they would be arriving.
We are attaching a form which I ask you to complete and return as an Email attachment as soon as possible. You should list on that form details of the very minimum staff that you would need at a closed-door event in Europe to safely run the races.
As only working trucks will be admitted you do not need to include hospitality staff or workers involved in their setting up. Other staff not deemed vital would include PR and media staff and perhaps some management personnel. Many of these could operate from their home bases whilst maintaining live links with staff at the circuit.
We have indicated on the forms that number of staff that we consider to be the absolute maximum for the class. That should not be taken as an “allowance” and you should enter your own, realistic figures.
We are obviously aware that in the Moto3 and Moto2 classes some teams operate with riders in both classes. Those teams should please complete a form for each class.
If you have any queries on this matter then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
Mike Trimby